Conference Marked by Talk of "Cure," Commitment to Greater Investment in Research

HHS Secretary Announces New HIV/AIDS Initiatives for Patients and Clinicians
In remarks during the opening ceremony at the XIX International AIDS Conference last night, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius announced 4 new public-private collaborations to help people living with HIV get care for their illness and to help train clinicians to treat patients with the infection. (Stephenson, JAMA, 7/23)

IAC: End of AIDS Epidemic on Horizon
A single message pervaded the opening ceremony for the 19th International AIDS Conference (IAC): the end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is in sight. "We've reached a point where the goal of an AIDS-free world -- once a far-off dream -- is now within sight," said Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the last in a string of speakers Sunday evening who made much the same point. but the job is not yet finished, she added. (Petrochko, Medpage Today, 7/23)

Fauci: AIDS Pandemic Still With Us
The end of the AIDS pandemic? a cure for HIV? the first is possible, researchers, politicians, and activists said here at the 19th International AIDS Conference. but the second is still a distant prospect, despite renewed enthusiasm for research in that direction. How can the two ideas both be true? to unpack the issue, MedPage Today North American Correspondent Michael Smith sat down with Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in this exclusive MedPage Today InFocus report (Smith, Medpage Today, 7/23).

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At the same time, media outlets report on news related to the science as well as the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS

Lisa Fitzpatrick: Routine Testing for HIV Needed (Video)
In this Kaiser Health News video, Lisa Fitzpatrick, the medical director of infectious diseases at United Medical Center, tells Joanne Silberner that in addition to more frequent testing, more attention needs to be paid to keeping people with HIV under the care of a doctor. (Kaiser Health News, 7/23)

Doc Training Part of HHS Anti-HIV Efforts
HHS unveiled a health-professionals online training program geared toward improving the care of HIV patients as part of a broader announcement of prevention and care initiatives targeting HIV/AIDS. Through the program, physicians, nurses and other providers can earn continuing medical education credit for completing online modules that address topics such as the basics of caring for HIV-infected patients, the benefits of starting HIV treatment early, barriers to HIV care and understanding how to bridge financial barriers to care. (Barr, Modern Healthcare, 7/23)

U.S. Study Finds High HIV Infection in Black Gay Men
New research shows black gay men are becoming infected with the AIDS virus at higher rates than their white counterparts, sparking urgent calls to address this growing part of the epidemic. a study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health tracked black gay and bisexual men in six cities, and found the rate of new infections is 2.8 percent a year. That's 50 percent higher than is seen in white men who have sex with men. (Neergaard, The Associated Press, 7/24)

HIV Infections Rising Young Gay Men in Urban Areas
Despite decades of prevention efforts, HIV continues to increase among young gay men in urban areas, and most of these men are unaware they are infected, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers looked at survey data spanning 1994 to 2008 on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men ages 18 to 29 year old living in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and San Francisco, recruited from bars and nightclubs. the study focused on HIV prevalence as well as HIV testing. (Duwell, ABC News, 7/24)

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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